Welcome to the World's First Great Big Vegetable Challenge! Six years ago we went on a vegetable journey of a lifetime. A 7 year year old boy named Freddie and his mother faced up to the challenge of turning him from a Vegetable-Phobic into a boy who will eat and even enjoy some of life's leafier pleasures. We ate through the alphabet of vegetables...and returned to tell the tale. Join our Great Big Veg Challenge!

Monday, December 03, 2007

Plantain and Chicken Skewers

"Yes we have no bananas..."

Having accepted that plantains are not going to taste like bananas, Freddie has tried them again. In Shepherds Bush market there is a huge selection of fruit and vegetables from around the world and even better, queues of people who are willing to help you learn how to cook them. A woman waiting in the queue to pay, recommended that I buy the blackest plantain, the ones that you would reject if they were bananas. Plantain is more fibrous than a banana and has less sugar but as it ripens, the starch turns to sucrose. I took my black plantains home and cut them into chunks and marinaded them with the chicken. Freddie gave these kebabs 9 out of 10.

Plantain will take a few days to ripen. Unripe ones are green, semi-ripe are a mottled yellow and black and the ripe ones are black. Use two nearly ripened plantains for this recipe. Skin them and chop them diagonally into 3cm chunks.Cut the chicken fillets into 3cm chunks. Put the plantain in a bowl and add the lime juice, then add the chicken, olive oil, jerk seasoning and crushed garlic. Stir well. Cover with cling film and leave to marinade for an hour. At the same time soak the wooden skewers in water. Thread the chicken and plantain onto the skewers and place on a baking tray. Pour over any remaining marinade liquid. Cook under a hot grill, turning regularly for about 20 minutes. Make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked before serving. You can also cook these on a barbecue.

Thank you for all your comments and recipe ideas. Freddie and I are choosing our next recipes together. We were sent this link to plantain heaven, on Cynthia Nelson's site, Tastes like Home.If only my home tasted as good as this. Take a look!

Good on you and good on Freddie! I love plantains and I love jerk seasoning, so this looks like a must try. Thanks Charlotte! Really missed your site while I've been on break by the way. Can't wait to catch up.

In your quest for plantain desserts, in Seychelles they do something called La Daube de Banane (not sure about the spelling of the first bit)which is made with coconut milk and presumably other ingredients and is eaten as a dessert. It is not very sweet. Lindy may have a recipe in her book but I can't find one. I shall have to ask my mother as she makes it. It can also be made with bread fruit, which if you used the French name of Fruit a Pain you could try as a p veg. If you think plantain chips are good you have to try deep fried and salted bread fruit. Peel, slice like a melon into chunks then cook. I defy you to get these to the table for a photo. Again, I have vague recollections of this being another under-ripe veg/fruit.

Hello - don't know how you're getting on with your quest for vegetables beginning with Q, but I've been thinking about it and the best I can come up with is to cheat slightly and go for "Qing Cai" (pronounced ching sigh) which is (Mandarin) Chinese for seasonal fresh green vegetables; of the leafy variety.

So often will be pak choi, or choi sum but can be more interesting things like morning glory or other stuff. So perhaps go to Chinatown or the farmer's market and find out what's green, leafy and in season.